Concentrated powders are commonly mixed into liquid containers for purposes of flavoring or fortifying beverages. Most commercially produced liquid containers, including water bottles, have openings that are too small to receive poured powder. This prevents mixing of powders, including powdered medicine, with liquid in those containers.
Drink mixes, including protein powders, nutritional supplements, flavor enhancers and energy-drink supplements, are commonly mixed with water. Dry mixes are often preferred to pre-mixed liquids because a dry mix has a longer shelf life than a premixed liquid. Other granular substances include powdered baby formula or granular snack foods.
Currently available powder drink-mix containers are sold in sealable pouches, spouted pouches or rigid containers, which tend to be large; usually more than two quarts in volume. Bulky containers are difficult to pack in luggage and inconvenient to carry. Powder stored in a bag is easier to pack but can burst. Pre-packaged, small volumes are available but are proportionally more expensive.
Powder substances are commonly poured into a container or dispensed out of a container through an opening, or mouth. Currently available, funnel-shaped powder containers, or containers that narrow at the mouth, are designed to fit inside the mouth of a typical beverage container. Powder is difficult to transfer through narrowing openings. Wider openings facilitate a powder's transfer.
Mechanisms for connecting containers and making seals are in the field of the present invention. A detent is a mechanism that temporarily keeps one part in a certain position relative to that of another, and can be released by applying force to one of the parts An O-ring is an annular form of often pliable material used as a seal against a mated, form to prevent the flow of fluid. A gasket is a pliable material fitted to an opening between two rigid parts to form a fluid-tight seal.
The present disclosure refers to apparatus that conveys granular material. A spout is a pipe, tube, or liplike projection through or through which a liquid is conveyed or discharged. In other embodiments, a spout is a trough or shoot for discharging or conveying grain, flour, or a granular substance.